Brothers Doug and David Blank discuss the issues of the day. One is a Christian, ER doctor, and member of the tea party; the other is an atheist, computer scientist, and liberal arts professor. How did this happen, and what do they have to say?

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Capital Punishment

Doug:
I don't think that the government should ever be putting its citizens to death.

David:
OK. Neither do I.

(I was actually hoping the title of this week's blog might be a subtle call for some Obama administration folks to go to jail. Maybe next time...)

Doug:
Interesting. Just so we are clear: you are not suggesting that capital punishment should be carried out by private companies? You are against any form of capital punishment? I would have guessed that you would support it as a form of punishment (which doesn't work to deter crime) or you would support it as form of moral retribution. Why don't you support capital punishment?

David:
You guessed wrong.

I think you may be admitting your biased view that because I'm a Republican, or a conservative, or whatever, that I must therefore fit your stereotypical view of what that entails.

Doug:
Yes. But you haven't let me down so far!

David:
Ditto on that, big brother.
The bottom line is that there are numerous reasons to oppose capital punishment. For decades, numerous studies have shown it doesn't act as any more of a deterrent to crime than prison. It ends up costing much more than placing a convicted criminal in the penitentiary for life. And We've seen numerous times that someone convicted of a crime is later found to be innocent of that crime. Juries aren't infallible, and neither is the justice system. With capital punishment, you don't get an opportunity for a do-over. Even though these cases drag on for years or even decades, with numerous reviews, it would be better to avoid even the chance of putting an innocent man to death.

Doug:
Great! Now, you should convince the other Republicans, or conservatives, or whatever, that they should not fall into that stereotypical view.

David:
I don't actually think the data supports this is so much a political viewpoint, as a moral one. Polling continues to indicate that more than 60% of Americans support capital punishment. Almost 40% say it isn't applied enough, while only 27% think it's applied too often. Even if every conservative subscribed to this idea (which they don't), those numbers must obviously include independents and liberals as well.

Doug:
I'll try to convince other Democrats, liberals, or whatever, to not support the death penalty.

David:
If you review the data, capital punishment just doesn't make sense as policy. So there is an underlying sense of moral outrage that appears to drive the polling data. There has even been a push in the past decade to add crimes to the list eligible for capital punishment, including child molestation and rape.

Doug:
Something that we both agree on, and can work together. Cool!

David:
It's hard to argue with solid data, and the numbers don't lie. Reversing moral outrage is no easy task, but hey, we can both agree on this topic, so there is always some hope!

2 comments:

I believe .. If your family member or very close friend were the victim of a violent crime and did not survive. You may reverse your opinion. My thought is that criminal must set and realize every day that there demise is coming. But everyone is entitled to there opinion .. U Jim

I understand your feelings completely. But now you're talking about vengeance for the families involved, rather than a just punishment. That's something different.Thanks for the comment, and thanks for reading the blog.